King Zhuang of Chu

Names
	Ancestral name: Mi (芈); Clan name: Xiong (熊); Given name: Lü (旅);

Xiong Lü
熊旅
Xiong Lü; 熊旅
King of Chu
Reign	613–591 BC
Predecessor	King Mu of Chu
Successor	King Gong
Died	591 BC
Spouse	Lady Fan
Issue	King Gong of Chu
Names
Names
	Ancestral name: Mi (芈); Clan name: Xiong (熊); Given name: Lü (旅);

"Wangzi Wu" bronze ding. The inscription inside the ding documents that Prince Wu worshipped his ancestors and prayed for his offspring. Wu was a son of King Zhuang.

King Zhuang of Chu (Chinese: 楚莊王; pinyin: Chǔ Zhuāng wáng, reigned 613–591 BC) was a monarch of state of Chu under the Zhou dynasty during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. His personal name was Xiong Lü (熊旅; Xióng Lǚ), his ancestral name was Mi (芈; Mǐ), and his posthumous title was King Zhuang. He was one of the five rulers dubbed the Five Hegemons by Xunzi and attempted to wrest control of China from King Ding of Zhou.^[1]

The son of King Mu of Chu, Zhuang ascended the throne in 613 BC. According to a legend in the Records of the Grand Historian, for the first three years of his reign Zhuang wasted time in pleasure-seeking, but, when challenged by two courtiers, reformed his ways.^[2]

The king made Sunshu Ao his chancellor. Sunshu Ao began a series of major dam-works and an enormous planned reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui.

After some military successes, King Zhuang attempted to usurp King Ding of Zhou. According to a well-known story, probably an invention of the Warring States period, he asked a messenger from Zhou about the weight of the legendary Nine Tripod Cauldrons which Zhou possessed, a euphemism for seeking ultimate power in China, but was rebuffed. This incident gave rise to the chengyu "to enquire about ding in the central plains", i.e. to have great ambitions (問鼎中原; 问鼎中原; wèn dǐng zhōngyuán).^[2]

In the Battle of Bi, his army defeated the state of Jin. His progress from lazy regent to hegemon gave rise to the Chinese chengyu "amaze others with one cry" (一鳴驚人; 一鸣惊人; yī míng jīngrén).

^ Zhao, Dingxin (2015). The Confucian-legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-19-935173-2.
^ ^a ^b Cook, Constance A.; Major, John S. (2004). Defining Chu: Image And Reality In Ancient China. University of Hawaiʻi Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-8248-2905-6.

[1] Zhao, Dingxin (2015). The Confucian-legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-19-935173-2.

[Cook-2] Cook, Constance A.; Major, John S. (2004). Defining Chu: Image And Reality In Ancient China. University of Hawaiʻi Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-8248-2905-6.

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